Room For Rent

Stephen Kellner, also know as Roderick, is no newbie to the New Jersey music scene.  In it since around 2006, Stephen has a very diverse and expansive musical repertoire.  Van Atta High, who released their debut full-length Run Like Hell in 2007, went for a more pop-punk vibe, while Roderick has a sound more comparable to Dashboard Confessional.

[Photo: Roderick, Instagram]

Roderick released full-length Memory in 2011, and then 12:34 in 2014 with an acoustic version of the album in 2017.  For the most part, the songs on Memory are somewhat bouncy--a mid-2000s-pop-rock-anthem type of album. "Room For Rent" is probably the best example for that analogy.   "Rhythm of Love" by the Plain White T's is a poppier version of Roderick's music, making "Room For Rent" the perfect cross between genres.

You hear some maturity in the quality of both his vocal style and songwriting with his second album 12:34.  Focusing on "Awake Before Dawn," Roderick exercises a better grasp on dynamics (volume) and arrangements.  This album is a good summary of his music career thus far.  You get a sense of his roots intertwined with his new approach.

I'm writing this post as a prologue to his upcoming single "Wanna Be," which is coming out on April 10th, so expect a review of that in the next few weeks.

You can follow him on Instagram and streams these albums on Spotify.

French Blonde

You may remember my post from a few months back about Deal Casino.  Since then, they have released a full length album that still transports me to a different place.  This past Wednesday they released a video for the NPR Tiny Desk Contest, featuring an unreleased song, "French Blonde," that is nothing short of a musical masterpiece.

Review of Deal Casino's EP

I like comparing new music to old to help paint a better picture of what I think a band was trying to achieve.  I have to say, though, that Deal Casino is a band that I have a hard time doing that with, mainly because of how original and creative their music is.  Their self-titled debut featured elements of classic rock, including '70s harmonies and a rich guitar presence.  While they are keeping their roots evident in this song, you immediately feel a sense of evolution and maturity.  Like most alternative rock bands, they are starting to become more experimental with different vocal and instrumental styles and techniques.  The spoken words in the verses, the pedal on the bass, and the added effects throughout the track all bind together in a way that I have never seen (or heard for that matter) before in any song.  While hearing things like this might get some people thinking that this song is an acquired taste, it's not.  Anyone with an appreciation at all for the art involved in music will find their own individual love for "French Blonde."

[Video:  Deal Casino, YouTube]

Lyrically, "French Blonde" is very unique from what they have released in the past.  The spoken words in the beginning and the rhyme schemes feel as if a Charles Bukowski poem has come to life:

I'm a dead animal

You're used to seeing my guts

You just pass me on the street

And drive right over me

While you're puttin' on...your makeup

I'm the next holiday

I'm your team, down by 6

I'm all your meals at once

A French blonde at Sunday brunch

They're strange (not in a bad way at all), yet oddly charming and intriguing, so you want to keep listening--something that Deal Casino has landed several times before...just never like this...and it's incredible.

I'm going to leave you off here, since I want you to enjoy this unreleased track for yourself.  Comment down below with your thoughts!

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The Goodness

I had an interesting conversation with my boyfriend the other day about what "emo" really means.  It is very often that we hear people say things like, "I'm feeling emo today so I'm going to listen to Fall Out Boy."  Statements like that seem to drive us music lovers crazy.  So while sitting at dinner, my boyfriend and I talked about the characteristics of "emo," so I have compiled a list for you about the myths of emo.

MYTH NUMBER ONE:  Emo bands wear makeup and nail polish

The first band that comes to mind when thinking about makeup and nail polish is My Chemical Romance.  My Chemical Romance is NOT emo!!  Their first album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, is somewhat close, but everything else is not.  Don't get me wrong--The Black Parade was a great album.  Everyone I know has gone crazy for "Welcome to the Black Parade" since sixth grade, but My Chemical Romance is basically pop punk with makeup.  Honestly, the best I'll give them is "mall emo," which is music that you would hear at Hot Topic.

MYTH NUMBER TWO:  A band is emo if they make you emotional

This is a tough one because emo is short for emotive, so to be fair, the term "emo" is overall very subjective, which is why you see bands falling victim to the stereotype more often than they should.  But let's consider music as a whole for a minute.  Think back to when you were younger, when you were first appreciating the theory and composition of music.  What was the first song that made you cry?  I don't remember mine, but it was probably something by a Classic or Baroque era composer.  Do my emotions make G.F. Handel emo?  Even though, like I said before, the decision is technically subjective, stylistically Handel is not emo.  So what do I mean by stylistically?

The definition, in terms of style, changes depending on the "wave of emo."  Emo wasn't even a term in the '80s, so the first wave of emo was the early '90s, when it was pretty much punk music.  The second wave came in the late '90s and was much different than the years preceding.  This wave was more quiet but had more complicated guitar parts.  And finally, the early 2000s was close to being pop-punk without really getting all of the way there.

MYTH NUMBER THREE:  "They're emo because they SCREAM in their songs"

The biggest reason why the above statement is a myth is because over the years, people have attached characteristics to emo music simply because they didn't know what emo was and probably just wanted to sound cool.  Screaming should have never been associated with emo.  The screaming that kids were probably actually referring to was metalcore screaming, which is in its own genre completely, which is fine because I'm not touching that with a ten-foot pole.  Think of it this way:  A band that has an excess of emotions is not going to scream in the way that A Day or Remember or Converge does.

MYTH NUMBER FOUR:  If a song has a heavy guitar, then it's emo

We're at the one I have been waiting for, and it's is another one where I have absolutely no idea where it came from.  The guitar has been a staple of music since the 1950s when rock and roll first hit radios.  Years and years of development eventually led to guitars producing heavier sounds from different pedals and fuzzboxes.  With all of this in mind, how does a sick guitar make a band emo?  The Rolling Stones weren't and never will be emo, and the same thing can be said for Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull.  All-American Rejects, even though they had very few heavy guitar parts, still managed to make it onto some emo lists, along with Pierce the Veil and Escape the Fate.  I don't really understand the All-American Rejects one, except for the fact that maybe people thought they were emo due to their look?  The Pierce the Veil and Escape the Fate one is easier though... scene bands have commonly been confused with being emo.  If you aren't sure what "scene" is, think of the girls who shopped at Hot Topic and wore plaid skirts, awfully layered and colored hair, peace signs with their tongues sticking out, and very heavy eyeliner.


I know, I threw a lot of information at you, and if you're unfamiliar with this topic, you're probably a little overwhelmed.  I have seen so much of this lately, though, with the early and mid-2000s being so far away now... people are "reminiscing the days of 'emo.'"  Just thought I'd nip it in the bud now while it's still relevant.


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Zodiac

My boyfriend's band Mom Fight released their first EP a little while back, and everyone around us has been pretty stoked about it.  Hailing from Central Jersey (I'm not arguing--Central Jersey EXISTS), this band has provided everything needed to set the record straight in the hardcore scene.

[Photo: Mom Fight]

Hardcore is known to most as "screamo" music, a phrase that grinds the whole genre's gears.  The technique of hardcore is quite more complex than that.  Screaming is usually referred to as the vocal technique used in metalcore.  The yelling that is used in hardcore typically has more of a growl in it.  However, these are just basic generalizations.  One of the best things about hardcore is there is no "right" way of performing.  If you listen to "Under Duress" by Converge, and then to Mom Fight's "Destroy," you'll notice major differences in the sound and vocal style of each band, even though they classify themselves under the same genre.  It's very important to a lot of these bands to sound different from other groups in order to retain individuality.

Mom Fight underwent major changes this past summer.  Not long before they started recording their debut EP, lead vocalist Joe announced his departure from the band.  "It saddens me to say this but I will no longer be the vocalist of Mom Fight," Joe wrote in the official statement.  But as they say, the show must go on, so my boyfriend, Nick, assumed the role of vocalist, while continuing to play the guitar in the EP recordings.  His unique vocal and guitar styles, Evan's heavy bass levels, and Steve's relentless drumming, each characterize the songs in different, yet complementing, ways.

Last year, I sat down with former bassist of Flammable Animals, Pat, and discussed their EP.  After getting such a great response, I have decided to do the same here to provide a true feel for what Mom Fight was going for with this record.  Here's a piece of Vacant with Nick.

Pat's 2016 Interview for 'All These Wolves'

You guys, back in February of 2016, released two sets of two-song demos.  On Vacant, you only recorded two songs from the demos, "Pain Within" and "Destroy," and then wrote three new ones.  What made you not include the other two songs in the process?
When the time came to pick songs to record, we wanted to pick the songs that best represent Mom Fight at the moment.  The three newer songs that made it on the record were the obvious choices.  The two demo songs that were picked were picked because they meshed best with those three songs, resulting in a cohesive EP.

Were the three new songs written before Joe left, or did you group together and come up with those once the thought of an EP crossed your minds?
Joe had written only a handful of lyrics total for the three songs, "Ren," "Zodiac," and "Songbird."  Most of the lyrics were improvised during the gigs we had, and gave me his blessing to write over anything he had previously come up with.  The day before tracking vocals, I rewrote the songs entirely, creating themes out of the working titles we had chosen already.

Which was your favorite song to record both vocally and/or instrumentally (remember, Nick does vocals and guitar)?
For both instances, "Ren" was my favorite to record.  For the vocals, even though it wasn't the first song I tracked on vocals, it was the first song I got to see take shape with my lyrics on it.  I felt as though the lyrics sat on top of the instruments so naturally.  As for guitar, "Ren" was the first song that we tracked as a trio, and it was also the first song that we really experimented with to get the tone that we desired.

What about live?  What song do you love performing the most?
I think "Songbird" is the most fun for me in a live setting because my vocals mimic a really cool rhythmic groove in the instruments.

Is the answer the same for what you'd love the audience to hear?
I think the answer's the same, but the reasoning is different.  There's a certain way I want the audience to perceive us, and I think "Songbird" does that best.  It's dark and heavy, but also somewhat chaotic. It doesn't sound like a stereotypical hardcore song--it's heavy in its own way.

This was a short interview, but I only wanted to give a brief view from their end, rather than just always throwing my opinion out there.  The EP is available on Bandcamp and Spotify.